Buzz Bissinger, furious at bad review, unleashes fury upon Dallas

Buss Bissinger, author of "Friday Night Lights," is also the author of some of the most profane, scathing tweets to come from a literary celebrity – or, really, a celebrity of any kind. And he took to Twitter in full force after the Dallas Morning News gave his new book, "Father's Day: A Journey Into the Mind & Heart of My Extraordinary Son" a negative review. (Photo by Robert L. Smith)

The book is about Bissinger's developmentally disabled son; the review, published on May 18, was written by Alex Lemon, a professor at Texas Christian University.

While calling the premise "outstanding," Lemon blasts Bizzinger's execution, writing, "no book has left me with such a sour impression of its author. Bissinger's 'Father's Day' is full of moments that made me cringe at a father's selfishness."

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At this, Bissinger exploded on Twitter in a logorrhea of profanity and ire for the city where JFK was shot – and which is a far cry, presumably, from the West Texas town of Odessa that he so lovingly described in his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Friday Night Lights."

Standards prevent us from quoting many of Bissinger's tweets in full, most of which came during his press tour through Texas. In addition, some of the tweets appear to have been deleted from Bissinger's account, though screen grabs exist on the websites of numerous media outlets.

"Back from west coast swing of tour. Seattle and Portland great book towns. Really good showing at bookstores. Dallas can go f--- itself hard," he wrote on Tuesday.

In case that wasn't clear, this cleared up any ambiguity in his sentiments: "Based on book tour, if Dallas slid into sinkhole, nation's IQ would rise by 50 points."

Really, Bissinger did not like Dallas, or the reception he and his book got there: "Could not get any local publicity in Dallas. Plus pretty vindictive review by a —-asaurus d—–juciest jealous —–. Dumb-assed nonsense."

Indeed, his most acute anger was reserved for Lemon himself: "Qualifications of Dallas Morning reviewer Alex Lemon. Teaches writing at Texas Christian University. I once again rest my f---- case."

"A reviewer can say anything he wants. I say anything I want back. If for some godforsaken reason I am at TCU, I will find Alex Lemon."

No physical alteraction appears to have taken place.

He did address Lemon's actual review at one point: "I am deeply flawed. But I have never been SELFISH WITH MY son. Misguided intentions. Of course. Like every parent."

Dallas was not happy, though given Bissinger's record on Twitter, it was not quite surprised. As blogger Joe Tone wrote for the Dallas Observer, "Making fun of cities can be fun, and funny...Bissinger's just not that skilled a humorist. Smart dude, big thinker, great writer...But he's just not that funny."

Later, Bissinger apologized. Well, no, not really: "To reiterate: I would like to apologize to city of Dallas for intemperate remarks. I wasn't nearly forceful enough in my disdain."

He also branded St. Louis "a hundred times the city that Dallas is," an assertion that we can neither confirm nor deny.